


Firen Lhain:  Season 1

by RWBY Dialogues (Weatherman667)



Series: Firen Lhain [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), F/F, F/M, Faunus AU, Harems, Jaune Dominant, Multi, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:33:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24038164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weatherman667/pseuds/RWBY%20Dialogues
Summary: A long-run story set in an AU where RWBY and JNPR are all Faunus.  It's definitely going to have a pollinated knight ending, and until it veers off the story, it assumes everything happened as it did in RWBY, unless this story shows otherwise.Pollinated Knight (lancaster, white knight, knightshade, dragonslayer, white rose, ladybug, sunshine, checkmate, freezerburn, and bumblebee)Long-run, starting at the beginning.Underaged because of Ruby.Updated Wednesdays.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc/Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc/Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc/Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose/Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Series: Firen Lhain [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1765852
Comments: 11
Kudos: 67





	1. About the Faunus

Salem looked out over the world, and wept. Humanity was gone. Her love was gone. Her soul was gone. All that was left was this weary flesh... flesh she had tried to shed... but the gods' curse proved true: nothing she did... could end her life... and she had certainly tried... oh... had she tried... She wandered Remnant, cold and alone... finding nothing but animals and Grimm.

But animals were alive. They were creatures. They ate... and loved... and bred... and...

There had been some things unlike the others. Some things obviously left by the gods. She did not understand them, but... she could feel the godly energies within them. She traveled all across Remnant. She did not need food, as she could not die of hunger... if she could... she would have long ago... she could not die from thrist. She could not be killed by animals, though they never tried. She could not be killed by Grimm... as they seemed to defer to her. She had all the time in the world. Enough time to venture to and from the furthest parts of Remnant, and she found all four.

It took her a great deal of time to figure out how to use them... but she did... She did, after all, have all the time in the world.

She brought various animals. It took several tries, but after each try they seemed more and more like Humans. But, it doesn't matter how Human-like they became... they always had some aspect of the animals they came from. They weren't - perfect. While they could use some fragment of the wild magick all Humans had been blessed with... only in relation to their lives as animals. At best, they looked like Humans, and sometimes acted like Humans, but... they were certainly not Humans, at least the Humans she remembered... though her memories were getting foggy...

* * *

**Jaune Arc**

Species: Hart ( _Rangifer tarandus_ )

Visible Attribute: Antlers The antlers are present year-round. If they get damaged they will molt and regrow. He gets a lot more sheepish without his antlers. More embarased than anything else.

Less Visible Attributes: Eyeshine, agility, ability to move through woodland brush without any difficulty.

Semblance: Aura Amp (unknown at the start of the story)

**Pyrrha Nikos**

Species: Flamingo ( _Phoenicopterus ruber_ )

Visible Attribute: Elongated Limbs, flaming colouration.

Less Visible Attributes: Agility, wind barrier that makes her extremely aerodynamic.

Semblance: Polarity

**Nora Valkyrie**

Species: Kestrel ( _Falco sparverius_ )

Visible Attribute: Wings. Not large enough to fly, nor really soar on her own, but has wind magics that allow her to properly glide. Magnhild can provide her with height.

Less Visible Attributes: Ultravision (sight into the Ultraviolet, dramatically improving sight during the daytime). Agility

Semblance: High Voltage

**Lie Ren**

Species: Pit Viper ( _Agkistrodon contortrix phaeogaster_ )

Visible Attribute: Infrared (Heat)-sensing pits (loreal pits)

Less Visible Attributes: Impossible limberness, allowing him to strike even when a regular Human would be restrained, or strike at what would be impossible distances.

Semblance: Tranquility

**Ruby Rose**

Species: Grey Wolf ( _Canis lupus_ )

Visible Attribute: Wolf tail, (which she is known to chase)

Less Visible Attributes: Eyeshine. Feral cunning, allowing her to predict where creatures will move on an instictive level. She can also use this to affect the movement of creatures with subtle actions to trigger their instictive responses. Four-limb gait when needed.

Semblance: Petal Burst

Special: Silver Eyes

**Weiss Schnee**

Species: Little Blue Heron ( _Egretta caerulea_ )

Visible Attribute: Downy feathers. When calm, it is white and invisible against the naturally pale skin of Schnees. When passionate, they turn blue. Light blue for positive emotions, dark blue for negative emotions. Since her father is so deeply racist against Faunus, he has STRONGLY encouraged her to suppress her emotions.

Less Visible Attributes: Aquatic affinity, which she can combine with Glyphs for jet propulsion. Ability to control her attitude and direction while airborne. This is not enough to fly, but enough to keep control while airborne, and move just enough to strike an opponent just out of range. When combined with Runes, this allows her to hve great agility while airborn, but not fly as would be understand with birds.

Semblance: Glyphs

**Blake Belladonna**

(unchanged)

Visible Attribute: Cat ears, which have both Human and cat hearing ranges.

Invisible Attributes: Eyeshine. Agility. Appreciation for fish dishes.

Semblance: Shadow

**Yang Xiao Long**

Species: Lava Lizard ( _Microlophus indefatigabilis_ )

Visible Attribute: Protective scales. Naturally light brown, but flush orange and red with her emotional intensity, (orange for positive, social, caring ones, red for anger and violent ones).

Invisible Attributes: Regeration. Heat / fire affnity; she cannot create fire, but she can enhance it.

Semblance: Burn

** Addendum: Made Decisions About Faunus Genetics in Firen Lhain **

What's established:

Faunus + Faunus of same type = Faunus of same type

Faunus + Faunus of different type = random Faunus

my expansionary rules:

Human+ = Biologically Human, but has Faunus DNA.

Faunus + 100% Human = Faunus of same type

Faunus + Human+ = random Faunus

Human+ + Human+ = small chance of producing a Faunus

Human+ + Human = smaller chance of producing a Faunus

so,

Taiyang Xiao Long (Lava Lizard) + Raven Branwen (Human) = Yang Xiao Long (Lava Lizard)

Taiyang Xiao Long (Lava Lizard) + Summer Rose (Fox) = Ruby Rose (Wolf)

Qrow Branwen = Human

Jacques Schnee (Human) + Willow Schnee (Little Blue Heron) = Winter, Weiss, and Whittley (Little Blue Heron)

Ghira Belladonna (House Cat) + Kali Belladonna (House Cat) = Blake Belladonna (House Cat)

Papa Arc (Caribou) + Mama Arc (Human) = Arc Siblings (Caribou)

Papa Nikos (Flamingo) + Mama Nikos (Human) = Pyrrha Nikos (Flamingo)

Papa Valkyrie (Human+) + Mama Valkyrie (Cow) = Nora Valkyrie (Kestrel)

Papa Ren (Owl) + Mana Ren (Mouse) = Lie Ren (Pit Viper)

Faunus Traits:

**Taiyang Xiao Long**

Same Faunus traits as Yang Xiao Long

**Summer Rose**

Species: Red Fox ( _Vulpes vulpes_ )

Visible Attribute: Fox tail

Less Visible Attributes: Eyeshine. Feral cunning, allowing her to predict where creatures will move on an instictive level. She can also use this to affect the movement of creatures with subtle actions to trigger their instictive responses. Four-limb gait when needed.

Semblance: Fox's Wedding: Allows her to create some combination of sunlight and rain. The more dramatica the change, the more taxing it is.

Special: Silver Eyes

**Willow, Winter, Whittley Schnee**

Same Faunus traits as Weiss Schnee

**Ghira and Kali Belladonna**

Same Faunus traits as Blake Belladonna

**Papa Arc / Jaune's Sisters**

Same Faunus traits as Jaune

note: Not aura trained, as as such antlers can take a full season to grow.

**Papa Nikos**

Same Faunus traits at Pyrrha Nikos

**Mama Valkyrie**

Species: Cow (Bos taurus)

Visible Attribute: Cow Hooves

Less Visible Attributes: Slit Eyes (improved lateral-field vision, but reduced focus), Eye Shine, tremendous strength. Not Aura trained, as such her strength is purely physical.

**Papa Ren**

Species: Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)

Visible Attribute: Owl Talons

Less Visible Attributes: Predictive aerial agility, (cannot control movement in the air, but can predict the exact path to create the appearance of this agility). Eye Shine. Owl Hearing.

**Mama Ren**

Species: Blyth's Vole (Phaiomys leucurus)

Visible Attribute: Fur covering. Despite the protection this provides, she is incredibly modest, and wares full clothing.

Less Visible Attributes: Strong nesting instincts, fine finger dexterity, Eye Shine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Orignally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/617368299872878592/firen-lhain-chapter-001-about-the-faunus) tumblog.


	2. Difference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a "the same, but different" AU. the story follows it's own path, but unless otherwise contradictory, it unfolds as it does in RWBY proper. As for Jaune, his dialogue is trimmed because he has a quietness inherited from his Faunus/Hart side.

Jaune bumped his antlers on the sloping roof of the airship. He bent over, tried to stand up, and did it once again. He stayed bent over this time. "Airships weren't designed for antlers. This is discrimination!" He looked about the airship, as everyone seemed to be avoiding his gaze, when the airship shifted. "And now I think I'm going to be sick."

* * *

Jaune ran past Ruby and Yang before throwing up in the next compartment. Yang walked towards him until she stepped in some of it, and stepped back.

"Oh, Yang, gross." Ruby said to her sister, "You have puke on your shoe."

"Gross-gross-gross-gross..." Jaune uttered to himself.

"Get away from me!" Ruby shouted at him, "Get away from me; get away from me!"

* * *

Jaune rushed out of the airship to vomit in the nearest garbage can.

* * *

Jaune looked about the school, completely unsure of where to go, when an explosion went off. "Was that an explosion?" Jaune asked, as he looked around. Everyone was still avoiding his gaze. Well, great way to make a first impression. No one seemed to be paying attention to the explosion, but he could hear girls shouting, and so walked over. When he approached he found a wolf girl on her knees, seemingly as depressed as he was. That wasn't right. No one should be as depressed as he is. "Hey." he said, and offered her his hand. "I'm Jaune."

"I'm Ruby." she said, as he helped her to her feet. "Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" she asked, and then looked as if she immediately regretted it.

* * *

The two of them walked together down the paths of Beacon. "I'll I'm saying is that motion sickness is a lot more common problem then people let on."

"Look," she quickly replied, "I'm sorry. Vomit boy was the first thing that came to mind."

"Oh, yeah, what if I called you craterface?" he asked, and then immediately regretted it. 'Smoothe.' he thought to himself.

"Hey!" Ruby replied, energized... but not incensed, "that explosion was an accident."

'How adorable can she get?' Jaune thought to himself.

The two awkardly looked at each other. "So?," Ruby asked, and pulled out Crescent Rose, which quickly expanded into a scythe over her shoulder.

"Is... that a scythe?.." Jaune nervously asked.

"It's also a high impact sniper rifle." Ruby said, craddling the weapon with a proud smile on her face.

"Hm?.." Jaune asked.

"It's also a gun." Ruby replied.

"Oh..." Jaune grumbled. "That's cool."

"So, what have you got?" Ruby asked, and Jaune reached to his waist to pull out Crocea Mors, first the sword.

"I've got a sword." he said, and then expanded his shield, "and a shield."

"What does it do?" Ruby asked, and tapped the shield. It jumped from his hand, and he chased it as it bounced around. Once he retrived it, he tried to enter a fighting stance.

"The shield gets smaller." Jaune stated. "So, when I get tired of carrying it, I can just... put it away..."

"Wouldn't it weight the same?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah... it does..." he groaned.

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons." she said with a smile, "I guess I did go a little overboard when designing her."

"Wait?," he asked, "you made it?"

"Yes?" she asked, "All students at Signal forged their own weapons. Didn't you make yours?"

"It's... a hand-me-down..." he quietly voiced, "my great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me." Ruby nervously but loving said. "Well I like it. Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"I like your wolf tail." Jaune said, and Ruby wagged it.

"It does... sometimes... get me in trouble..."

"Pfft." he replied, "Trouble?, you?"

"I-do-sometimes-chase-it," she eagerly said, "I mean... I can't believe I told you that..."

"I promise not to tell anyone." Jaune said to her.

"I like your antlers." she said to him, "They're really cool."

"You - have no idea - how often - they get caught on things..."

"But... they're like weapons... that are always with you." Ruby eagerly said to him.

"Okay, yeah..." Jaune replied, "but they're actually kind of fragile."

Ruby grabbed as his antlers and tugged on them. "They could totally hold my weight."

Jaune looked at her for a moment before replying, "Okay, but you have to balance your weight on both of them."

Ruby grabbed onto his antlers, and hung there, starring into his eyes.

Jaune nervously lowered her to the ground and she let go.

"So, why'd you help me out back there..." Ruby asked him, "in the courtyard."

"Ehn, why not?" Jaune asked, "My mother always said that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

"Hm." Ruby replied with a subtle smile, "Hey, where are we going?"

"Oh?," Jaune asked, "I don't know, I was following you."

* * *

Jaune awkwardly stood in the auditorium, looking around. 'uh-huh.' he thought to himself, 'we're all going to be great huntsmen someday.' He then heard the voice of an angel,

"like tall, blond, and antlered over there."

Jaune looked over to see Ruby, glowing and adorable in her own light, standing next to an angel in Human form.

* * *

Jaune walked through the locker room trying to find his locker. He genuinely did not remember counting that high, and paused with a start. He saw her, his angel, and he walked up to her, holding out his hand.

Weiss' skin flushed, first dark blue, then light, then the two contrasting against each other. She breathed in deep and the flush dissipated. He looked at her questioningly. "It's my Semblance." she firmly, if indecisively stated.

Jaune still held his hand out to her.

"He wants you to shake it." Blake said as she walked passed.

"Ah?" Weiss asked, and then after a moment lent him her hand.

"Jaune. Jaune Arc."

"Weiss Schnee." she said as she shook his hand. "How can I help you, Mr. Arc?"

"It's just, you look like a Snow Angel..." Jaune voiced, and Weiss' body flushed dark blue once again.

"I will thank you very much to not refer to me as such!"

"Hello, again." the woman said, and Jaune turned to look at the Flamingo Faunus.

"Well, hello." Jaune replied, and smiled at her.

"Do you have any idea who this is?!" Weiss ascerbically asked him.

"No idea." He said to Pyrrha, and held out his hand, which she nervously took. "Jaune Arc."

"And I'm Pyrrha Nikos."

"That's it?!" Weiss asked, "Is that all you have to say?!"

"I'm sorry?" Jaune asked, genuinely confused.

"She won the Mistral regional tournament four years in a row?!" Weiss asked.

"Congratulations." Jaune said to her.

"Thank you." Pyrrha replied with genuine warmth.

"But he..." Weiss said.

"Yes?" Jaune asked.

"How do you not know who Pyrrha Nikos is?!" Weiss asked, and Jaune turned to Pyrrha.

"I would like to get to know her." he said, and Pyrrha blushed and turned to look away. The blush looked beautiful when mixed with her firey colouration. Jaune then turned back to Weiss, who was largely a deep, dark, royal blue at the moment. "How about you?"

Weiss just scoffed and fumed in reply.

"You don't want to team up?" Jaune asked, and then turned to Pyrrha. "How about you?"

"I do believe they are four-person teams." Pyrrha said to him, and he turned back to Weiss. The Dark Blue was mixing and contrasting with light blue, and the more he looked at her, the more it looked like plummage.

"Pyrrha, a little help please?" Weiss asked, and Pyrrha threw her spear. Within a moment Jaune found himself stuck to a wall.

"Well..." he voiced to himself, "let's not pretend this is the first time this has happened..."

Pyrrha then walked up to him, grabbing her spear, "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise." Jaune sighed.

* * *

Jaune once again found himself pinned by Pyrrha's spear. This time, however, it was to save him from plummeting to his doom in the forest full of Grimm. "Thank you!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha faintly cried in the distance.

* * *

Ruby ran through the forest on all fours, using her tail to balance against her movements, 'Gotta find Yang,' she thought, 'gotta find Yang,' her thoughts repeated, "Yang!" she cried, repeating it as it echoed into the forest. 'Oh, this is really bad.' she though to herself, 'what if I can't find her? Okay, there's always Jaune. He's nice. He's funny, if a bit quiet. But so am I... unless I rambled on... I mean... Buuut... I don't think he's very good in a fight. Oh!, what about Blake? So mysterious, so calm. She likes books?! But then again I'm not sure I'd be able to hold a conversation with her.' Ruby shook her head. 'Okay, who else do I know in this school?.. Yang - Jaune - Blake - ... annnd?' she thought, as she bowled over Weiss, turning around to look at her.

"You?!." Weiss exclaimed to her, and turned around with a huff to walk away.

* * *

Weiss... elegantly... walked... through the woods... the sticky... dirty... filthy woods... until she found Jaune stuck to a tree. With this she huffed and turned away, Jaune only having enough time to wave and sigh.

* * *

Weiss grabbed Ruby by her tail and tugged her away. "By no means does this make us friends."

"You came back!" exclaimed with glee.

* * *

Pyrrha walked up to Jaune stuck in the tree and shyly looked up at him. "Hey, wait!" he shouted, "Come back! Who's going to get me down from here?!"

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, "Do you... have any spots left on your team?", and he simply sighed.

* * *

"Do you think this was a good idea?" Pyrrha nervously asked, walking behind him in the darkness of the tunnel.

"I've got eyeshine, so I can see just fine." Jaune replied, before hitting his antlers on the ceiling and falling backwards.

"Are you quite alright?!" Pyrrha asked, and reached towards him, but he caught her hand.

"Thank you, but the antlers are dangerous. If I didn't have aura I would have broken them." Jaune then sighed in the darkness.

* * *

Jaune was flung by a Deathstalker passed Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and a prone.

"Oh, good," Yang said, "the gang's all here; now we can die together."

"Not if I can help it." Ruby replied, and charged forward on all fours. She stood on her legs just long enough to draw Crescent Rose and launch herself at the Deathstalker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/618002525771153408/firen-lhain-chapter-002-difference) tumblog.


	3. Fracture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters 3-8 happen between the Emerald Forest and Jaundice.

Jaune sat on his bed in JNPR's new dorm. "So, Pyrrha, you know the Snow Angel?"

Pyrrha smiled as she sat on her own bed against the well, "Weiss Schnee." she said with glee.

"So, you know when I caught her?" Jaune asked, and Pyrrha nodded. "I swear I felt feathers."

"Pssh." Nora said, as she picked her bed and sat on it.

"She did say it was a semblance." Pyrrha quietly added.

"Do Semblances... feel like feathers?.." Jaune asked, and the rest of his team looked between each other.

* * *

Yang sat on her now top bunk. "Okay, now that we've got bunk beds, Weiss?"

"Yes?" Weiss replied.

"What was it like to be caught in tall, blond, and antler's arms?"

Weiss clutched her hands over her heart. Momentarily her body flushed light blue with a slight tinge of dark.

"Okay," Yang said to her, "you've got to tell us what that was."

"My... Semblance..." Weiss mumbled.

"uh-huh." Yang said to her. "We're not buying it. We're a team, and we need to be honest with each other."

Weiss nervously looked down, sitting on her bed, trying to be as small as possible.

"I'm not the only one who felt it." Yang said, "I can't be..."

"We... did... fight well together..." Blake voiced.

"We were unstoppable." Yang voiced. "And at least two of us seem to have a thing for antler-boy." Weiss let out a loud scoff, her body flushing light and dark blue. "Chill, ice queen, I never said it was you." Weiss let out a much quieter scoff before breathing deeply, her skin returning to normal. Ruby looked about nervously as her tail wagged. "You okay there, Ruby?" Ruby nodded in reply.

* * *

Pyrrha and Nora changed in JNPR's dorm room. "So?" Nora asked, and Pyrrha smiled at her, "Why did you pick our GLORIOUS LEADER?!"

Pyrrha shyly looked down. She then looked over to Nora, "And how long have you known Ren?"

"Only like forever!" Nora exclaimed.

* * *

Glynda sat in front of the bleachers, on which sat all of the first year students. "Students?" she asked, the crowd quieted down. "As you've been told before, I am Glynda Goodwitch, and will be running your individual combat training. I trust you are all familiar with the basics of combat and aura usage."

Jaune slowly, hestitantly raised his hand.

"Now," Glynda stated, and Jaune dropped his hand, "that you have your partner, we feel it would be best for you to get some practice fighting beside them. Let's start with Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos versus... Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush." Jaune shyly walked down. Pyrrha eagerly stepped down. Cardin and Russel coming down across from them. "Draw." Glynda stated, and they all drew their weapons. "On the count of three." she stated, "Three, two, one, GO!"

Within a split second Russel had been taken out.

"Corners!" Glynda shouted, and Jaune and Cardin stepped away from each other. "Very good, Ms. Nikos, but perhaps you could stand aside and let your partner get some experience?"

"I'm sorry..." Pyrrha stated.

"You did quite well." Glynda stated, "Too well..."

"I'm sorry..." Pyrrha voiced.

"Please, just stand aside." Glynda stated, and Pyrrha did just that. Jaune and Cardin moved back into the centre of the ring. "Reminder, the match is over when one of you is neutralized, your aura is reduced to critical levels, or you surrender. Ready?" she asked, and the two adopted their combat stances, "Begin."

Cardin's first attack was a simple swing, which Jaune tried to block with his shield. Try is the operative word, as the force caused Jaune to stumble backwards. Cardin pulled his mace over his head and pulled it down hard on Jaune. Jaune's body flickered with aura for a moment before it stopped.

"St..." Glynda tried to say as Cardin took a quick swing at Jaune's antlers, shattering the left one. "STOP!" Glynda exclaimed, and turned to Jaune. With a (literal) flash, Weiss was overtop of him as Pyrrha looked shyly on. Glynda looked back to Cardin, "Mister Winchester?!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Cardin asked, "it's a fight?"

"THE FIGHT WAS OVER THE MOMENT HIS AURA DISAPPEARED!" Glynda exclaimed. "That kind of reckless behaviour has no place!.."

"Will you stop shouting for a moment and help him?!" Weiss asked her, and Glynda turned back to the pair, looking at them like a deer in the headlights.

"I'm fine..." Jaune voiced.

"You are not..." Weiss tried to say to him, but Jaune forced his way to his feet, wobbling a bit. He tipped to his right, pulled by his intact antler when Ruby appeared under his arm. "They grow back, it's not a problem."

Glynda looked back to Cardin, "I can assure you, it is."

"What?" Cardin asked.

"You know very well, what?!" Glynda asked, "You saw when his aura dropped, and you took advantage of it!"

"I..." Cardin tried to say.

"I don't want to hear one more word about it!" Glynda shouted, "Make your way to my office!" Glynda looked back to Jaune, standing up with Ruby under his right arm, with Weiss and Pyrrha looking on nervously.

"I told you, I'll be fine." Jaune stated. "It's just hard to balance before it fixes itself."

"Are you sure you will not need medical attention?" Glynda asked.

"I'll be fine." Jaune said, and then nearly lost his balance, Ruby holding him up.

"You are quite sure?" Glynda asked.

"Yeah... yeah..." Jaune voiced. "It will fall off... I just need a bit of rest... and a lot of food as it regrows..."

"You'll have all the time to recuperate that you'll need." Glynda stated.

"Thank... you..." Jaune voiced.

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Leader?" Nora asked him.

"It's not like this is the first time I've broken them..." he voiced.

"Nora?" Ren asked.

"Okay, yeah," Nora replied, "but he's our leader, we can help him back to his dorm."

"Our dorm." Ren stated, Weiss shyly looking down, Pyrrha still nervously looking on. Nora looked ecstatic about it being 'OUR' dorm.

Nora looked at Pyrrha, "Or we could let Pyrrha handle it."

"That might allow the rest of the class to catch up to her a bit." Glynda stated.

* * *

Jaune walked out of the training room, with Pyrrha under his right arm.

* * *

"Are we sure he will be quite alright?" Weiss asked.

"The best we can do is support him." Ren added, and Weiss nervously looked back down, shoulders slumping.

"Careful there, Ice Princess," Yang said to her, "or we might start to think you have a heart." Weiss' body flushed dark blue before she breathed in deeply. Her skin cleared up as she adopted a more proper stance.

* * *

Jaune, minus his antlers, walked into the cafeteria, and looked around, finding the rest of his team with RWBY. He walked up to the table and sat down beside Pyrrha.

"Ladykiller, is that you?" Yang asked.

"Yeah... yeah..." he tried to dismiss. "Deer aren't dead when they lose their antlers, you know." Ruby looked at him nervously, her tail twitching. Weiss looked at him curiously. "Seriously?, I just want to drop it..." he voiced.

"He did say he would require a lot of food." Ren added, and pushed a plate towards him.

"Thanks, man." Jaune stated. He looked down at his food, taking a bite, before looking at everyone else. They were still staring at him. "Okay, this is kind of awkward..."

"Can we talk about how cool it is he can grow his antlers back?" Nora asked, with Ruby nodding and wagging her tail.

"I know," Yang stated, "dad thinks I might be able to grow something back, too, but I don't exactly want to find out. You sure you're okay, man?"

"Yeah... yeah..." Jaune voiced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/618636658997329920/firen-lhain-chapter-003-fracture) tumblog.


	4. Natation

Weiss found a letter on her bed; the envelope simply had her name on it. She looked around her room, "Who is this from?"

"Tall, blond, and antlered." Yang replied.

* * *

There was a knock on JNPR's door. Nora quickly opened it, seeing Weiss there. "Yes?"

"I would like to speak with your leader, if you could?" Weiss asked.

"Leader?!" Nora called into the room, and Jaune quickly appeared, causing Weiss to shutter, to flutter with light and dark blues.

"It's... good to see you have recovered." Weiss said to him.

"I told you." Jaune said with a smile. Weiss stood nervously for a moment before breathing in deep, and the flush of colours ended. She held out a letter to him.

"I'm afraid... I do not... feel that way... about you..."

Jaune looked at her without comprehension. "Uh... if you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

"Well, thank you." Weiss said, and curtseyed before turning away. 'Wait,' she thought to her self, 'talk about it?' She walked back into her room and up to the desk before using a letter opener to open the letter.

~~My Dearest Weiss,~~

~~The lovely Weiss,~~

Ms. Weiss Schnee,

I am

Must talk about

I'll get right to the point. I'm sure... I felt feathers... and wanted to talk to you about it.

\--Jaune Arc

* * *

There was a knock at the door. Ren was the one to get it this time. "For Jaune?" he asked, seeing Weiss carrying a giant sack.

"If you could?" she asked.

"Leader?" Ren asked, and Jaune walked up to the door. Weiss looked away as she handed Jaune the sack.

"What's this?.." Jaune asked, as he opened the sack, and then looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What is it?" Nora asked, an as she walked over, poking her head in under his arm. It was her turn to be shocked, as the sack was filled with lien cards.

"What's this?.. I... can't..."

"It should be sufficient." Weiss quiped.

"For, like, the rest of your life?!" Nora stated.

"Non-sequential, so it cannot be traced." Weiss added.

"I can't... take this..." Jaune gulped, as he closed the bag and handed it back to Weiss, and she looked at him fearfully, her body flushing dark blue. "Why don't we just talk?.." Jaune asked.

* * *

Jaune and Weiss sat on the hillock, overlooking the fields around Beacon, Weiss still holding her sack.

"You're a Faunus, aren't you?" Jaune asked, and Weiss looked around nervously.

"What... do you want?.." Weiss asked him fearfully.

"I want to know why you are so afraid of it?" Jaune asked.

With this Weiss meekly looked down.

"Alright..." Jaune voiced, "I've decided what I want."

With this Weiss looked at him questioningly, holding the bag open, towards him.

"A kiss." Jaune said, and she flushed deep blue, "on the cheek." he voiced, and most of the dark blue was replaced with light blue. She quickly leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "I promise, I won't tell anyone about it."

Weiss looked at him meekly. "Thank you."

"But," Jaune said, "you are beautiful when you show your colours." Weiss flushed light blue and looked away. She then clutched her bag and stood up, adjusting herself to a proper stance before walking away.

* * *

Gynda stood in a one-piece swimsuit, (with cleavage window). "Now, students, it's important to learn to operate in any environment!"

"Canon!.." Nora shouted as she ran towards the pool, when Glynda glared at her. Nora gave her a nervous smile as she slid to a halt. Glynda just sighed, and Nora started running once again, "Ball!" she shouted as she jumped into the pool. "Feel free to test yourself however you please," she then glared at Cardin, "Just - be - respectful - of - one - another! Do I make myself clear?!"

"Yes, Ms. Goodwitch." the group replied.

Jaune held out his hand, low, to Pyrrha. Pyrrha put her foot into it and he threw her into the pool. He looked to Ren who was already jumping up to his shoulders before jumping to the pool, somehow twisting his body to bypass his antlers. Jaune quickly ran after them.

"Sweet!" Yang exclaimed, and reached towards Weiss.

"What-what-what?" Weiss asked.

"Don't they look like they're having fun?" Yang asked.

"I... suppose..." Weiss nervously replied.

"Then let me yeet you into the pool."

Ruby turned into a flush of rose petals, flying at the pool. She reverted mid-air, "Last one in's a rotten egg!"

A shadow moved beside her, and Weiss turned to see Blake taking off. Weiss sighed, and held her hands out to Yang. "Just please, be gentle?"

Yang developed a wide smile while grabbing Weiss by her hands. She pulled Weiss behind her and at first gently, then powerful launched her overhead towards the pool. Weiss actually changed her flight-path made air to make the most elegant dive into the pool. Yang saw in the pool Jaune with Nora hanging from his antlers, and he turned towards her. "Guess who's the rotten egg?!" he shouted at her, and Yang quickly ran towards the pool, only to be splashed by Jaune.

"Oh, it's on!"

* * *

Jaune and Yang's splash fight started out playful, but quickly scaled up to the point they were causing waves through the entire pool. Most of the rest of the class moved out of the pool to watch the splash fight transpire.

Cardin walked up to Glynda as they watched the fight. "So, what, I get in trouble, but Jaunie here gets to do this?"

With this Glynda sighed, "You honestly don't get it, do you?" she asked him. "This is training. What you did was simply cruel."

"They grew back." Cardin stated.

"And did you know that?!" Glynda asked him, but he stayed quiet.

* * *

Jaune and Yang huffed as they leaned against the side of the pool.

"Come on, Yang?!" Ruby asked, "Are you giving up?!"

"Leader!" Nora exclaimed, "Leader!" In reply, Jaune and Yang just continued to gasp for breath, until they saw Blake's eyes watching something in the pool. They turned to see Weiss swimming along without any sort of effort. Her body was undulating, but not really as a kick.

"Bitchin'." Yang said.

"Bet you won't..." Jaune tiredly said, "say that to her face..." and this caused Yang to snicker out loud.

Weiss stood for breath at one of the ends and Yang shouted at her, "BITCHIN'!" Weiss looked around nervously before looking at Yang, her body flushing with light and dark blues. She then quickly dropped back into the water to continue her lengths swimming. Yang then held her hand out to Jaune. Jaune took her hand and she pulled him into a quick hug with back-pat. She tried to let go, only to find Jaune pulling her in for a close, powerful hug. Her brown scales flushed an orange-red.

Jaune looked shyly at her when he let her go. "I... sorry..."

Yang just looked at him as her body still flushed orange-red. Nora slowly stepped towards him before nudging into him a few times. He rolled his eyes before pulling her in for a powerful hug. When he let her go, Ren looked at him questioningly. He then pulled Ren in for a powerful hug before letting him go. Nora then nudged him before pointing at Pyrrha who was shyly looking away. Jaune walked up behind her, encircling his arms around her waist to give her a powerful hug. He then kissed her on the left-back of her head. He then let her go and looked scared. "Uh... sorry..."

Pyrrha was too busy hiding her blushing face in her hands to reply.

"Attention students!" Glynda shouted, and everyone looked at her, "Class is dismissed. Be sure you are all ready for Professor Port's lecture!"

* * *

Jaune and Yang slept on the auditorium desks as Peter Port blathered on. Weiss was awake, but a bit more distracted than usual.

* * *

Peter walked up to Glynda. "Must you have pool training before my lectures?"

"They need to learn to keep themselves awake." Glynda said with a wry smile.

"Even Ms. Schnee seemed distracted today." Peter added.

"Ozpin was planning to have a talk with her..." Glynda voiced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/619270756383260672/firen-lhain-chapter-004-natation) tumblog.


	5. Clothesline

"Ms. Schnee?" Ozpin asked across his desk. On her part, Weiss was doing the best to not react, just sit perfectly and calmly. "I'm guessing this is not going to be an easy conversation for you."

"I'm fine, Professor." Weiss said, as she developed a faint dark blue tinge.

Ozpin then drank from his coffee cup. "Yes, indeed. Now, your goal here is to become a huntress, yes?"

"Yes, Professor." she replied.

"And by all signs, you are well on your way to becoming one... with one startling exception." Ozpin said to her, and her eyes grew wide, her blue tinge becoming deeper. "I must ask, how can you expect to become a huntress if you cannot accept such an innate part of yourself?"

Weiss shyly looked down.

"How did the young Mr. Arc refer to you?" he asked, and Weiss fearfully looked up at him.

Ozpin sat back in his chair and breathed deeply. "He's not wrong, you know?"

Weiss looked even more fearful and turned an even deeper blue, although this time with a lighter blue flush.

Ozpin sat for a moment as he thought his words over. "You have a bright future head of you. With your abilities, you could take... quite literally, any huntress position, all across Remnant... but could you use them?.. You are deathly afraid to show any emotion... you are deathly afraid of yourself."

Weiss felt small, shoulders forward, looking small, looking lost and forgotten. Ozpin could press no further.

"Please, think on it, Ms. Schnee. I want to see your..." he said and thought, 'not wings...' "You know what I want to see?" he asked, and she looked as she was hanging on every word, "I want to see you smile. Then I will be confident in your success as a huntress."

* * *

Ruby sat on the ground waiting for the elevator, tail slowly wagging, wagging faster and faster as the elevator got closer to the ground. Ruby stood up as the doors opened, "So?!" she exclaimed, and her energy evaporated as she saw Weiss wiping away a tear. Her only recourse was to tackle Weiss and hold her close. Weiss stopped crying and pushed her away. Her dark blue flush turning light blue for a moment before dissipating.

"Are you alright?" Ruby eagerly asked her.

"I... have no idea..." Weiss replied, "it is inexplicable..."

"What is?" Ruby asked.

Weiss stood up and fixed her dress. "Let us be on our way." She turned to walk away, Ruby eagerly following her.

* * *

"For the next match," Glynda stated, "we'll have Yang Xiao Long against Jaune Arc." The two walked down the steps. "Anything you would like to say before the match?"

"Come at me, pretty boy." Yang said to him, and Glynda rolled her eyes.

"Pretty what?" Jaune asked, "What-boy?"

"Did you have anything to say to her?" Glynda asked.

"Other than her being gorgeous?" Jaune asked, and Yang's face flushed orange.

"You did start it, Ms. Xiao Long." Glynda voiced.

"Still not fair..." Yang replied, and Glynda sighed. 'Why must they use this as a chance to flirt?' she thought to herself, 'They do have all day.' Glynda breathed in deep.

"Are you both ready?" she asked, and both of them subtly nodded. "Go."

Yang started with a straight that Jaune blocked with his shield. He pushed her back and... stepped on her. Not a kick, but simply stepped on her, and she stumbled back.

"The hell?!" Yang asked, brown scales flushing red, eyes and hair glowing.

Jaune tried to sweep her legs with his sword but she used her gauntlets to launch herself into the air. The pain in her legs destablized her, and she had to fly over top of him without attacking.

Jaune turned towards her, swinging his sword in a wide arc, but she was just out of range. Yang punched the sword down and knocked it with her fireshot, causing Jaune to drop his sword. Yang quickly moved in to deliver a devastating punch to his chest plate, causing them both to stagger. Yang recovered first, lunging back in with a punch, only to have Glynda deflect her blow.

"The hell?" Yang asked.

"Congradulations." Glynda said.

"Oh... uh... yeah...

"Now, Mr. Arc?" Glynda asked, "As Ms. Xiao Long described it, what?.. indeed... was that?"

"I... uh... don't... not sure..." Jaune replied.

"It seems to be you were attempting to use your great weight and leg strength to bear down upon her?" Glynda asked.

"Uh... maybe?" Jaune asked.

Glynda then turned to the bleachers, "Let this be a lesson in the unexpected. Nature is rarely predictable, and neither are Grim. You have to always be ready for the unexpected, and be willing to adapt to what you encounter."

"You sound like my dad..." Yang grumbled.

"If you would please not repeat that." Glynda acerbically said to her.

"Uh, yeah, sure..." Yang replied.

* * *

"Can we talk?" Blake asked.

"What's up?" Yang asked as she climbed up to her bunk.

"Aren't you guys tired of being discriminated against because you're Faunus?" Blake asked them.

"D... what?" Ruby asked

"We're from Patch." Yang stated, "Everyone is in it, together. No one really cares about that, all that much..."

"You've... never been discriminated against?" Blake asked.

"I don't know?," Yang asked, "Once or twice?"

"I think Jaune has it worse than us." Ruby stated.

"Yeah, but that's because..." Yang tried to say.

"Because of what?" Blake asked, "Are you seriously trying to blame Jaune for being picked on?"

"Look, Cardin's an asshole, but if Jaune stood up for himself, the asshole would probably leave him alone."

"Should we... help him?.." Blake asked.

"I was trying to..." Yang voiced, "I... just kind of... blew my top..." She laid back on her bed, looking at the ceiling.

* * *

Nora walked up on Jaune brushing his antlers in the mirror.

"Yes?" Jaune asked.

"Wait, what is that?"

"Dowel." Jaune stated, "It has two sides," he said as he showed it to her, "heartwood and sapwood. The sapwood is softer, the heartwood harder. We use it to keep our antlers clean and polished."

"Okay," Nora said, "I guess I've seen deer rubbing their antlers on trees. Why don't you just wash it?"

Jaune put the dowel down and pulled out his scroll. He flipped through it for a minute before bringing up a picture and showing it to Nora, causing her to giggle. It was a picture of a younger Jaune with a couple towels impaled on his antlers.

"Can I show Ren?" Nora asked.

"Yeah, sure." Jaune stated.

* * *

Ruby and Yang burst out laughing.

"I beg your pardon?" Weiss asked from her desk.

Blake checked her scroll and developed a cat smile, "From Nora."

Weiss checked her phone and let out a momentary giggle. She flushed a quick light blue, disappearing just as quickly.

* * *

Pyrrha looked at her scroll and nearly doubled over with giddyness. She was definitely going to keep this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/619904998473662465/firen-lhain-chapter-005-clothesline) tumblog.


	6. Wilder

The students stood in Beacon's great hall, the teachers on stage. Ozpin spoke into the microphone, "For the next week, we will be focusing on survival in the wilderness. You will be deposited somewhere in the wilderness around Beacon. Your goal will simply be to survive for a week before we pick you up. Each team will be able to pick where around Beacon you will be deposited, within certain guidlines. Each team will be given a budget, which you can use to buy the supplies we have, here." Ozpin then gestured to the rest of the hall, "You will have one week to make your decisions. Before it is asked, teams can be deposited together if both teams agree."

Glynda walked up to the microphone, "Teams will work together or independantly. Any hostile actions to another team will result in," she said, and loudly slapped the lectern with her crop, "DISCIPLINARY - ACTION! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

Peter walked up to the microphone, "This school is here for some simple reason, to train HUNTSMEN! If you cannot carry yourself with honour, I will have to ask you why you are here?!"

"This should go without saying," Ozpin continued, "but huntsmen and huntresses carry the burden of trust of the people of Remnant, a trust that is easily broken. Trust is as important to being a huntsman as skill, intellect, and aura. Now go, and prove to us you are worthy of being huntsmen."

* * *

Weiss nervously looked into Ruby's bunk, trying but failing to say something of value.

* * *

There was a knock on JNPR's door. A moment later Jaune opened it. "Weiss." Jaune said, and nodded his head, almost hitting his antlers on the door frame, stumbling back to avoid it.

"I was wondering if you would need help with your planning?"

Jaune just shrugged his shoulders in reply, "Already done."

"WHAT?!" Weiss asked.

"What?" Jaune asked, "I have seven sisters and we lived outside the kingdoms. This was every day for me."

"If that is the case, then why is my leader perhaps having so much trouble?" Weiss nervously asked.

"Want me to talk to her?" Jaune asked, and Weiss nervously nodded.

* * *

Jaune walked sideways into RWBY's room so his antlers didn't catch. "Hey, Ruby?" he asked, and paper's went flying from Ruby's hanging bed. Her head quickly popped out. She just stared at him with wide eyes. "This... is every day for me... I thought you girls might want some help with the planning?"

"Why don't we just work together?" Yang asked.

"Uh... sure?" Jaune asked, and Ruby looked even more nervous. Weiss let out a quiet huff. Ruby looked at Blake who just shrugged her shoulders.

"Even if we work together..." Weiss quietly stated, "I think Ruby should still make the plan."

"Whyyyy meeeee?" Ruby asked.

"You are the leader." Weiss added.

"Fiiiine." Ruby stated. "Jaune can still help me, right?"

"Happy to help." Jaune stated.

* * *

Jaune and Ruby sat on the floor as they worked on the plan, Ruby's tail wagging non-stop.

* * *

Weiss peeked over their shoulders to see the work.

* * *

Jaune walked sideways into JNPR's dorm.

"How'd it go?" Nora asked.

"We're going to work together."

"Sweet." Nora replied, with Ren silently nodding.

* * *

RWBY and JNPR stood in the hall as they collected their supplies.

"Why does Jaune get the axe?" Nora asked.

"Because I have a lot of experience chopping wood." Jaune replied.

"Okay, yeah, but..." Nora tried to say.

"I can make you a wedge so you can use Magnhild?" Jaune asked, and Nora's eyes glew bright.

"Alright," Yang stated, "you can have the axe, but I'll carry the shovel for you."

"And what will I be carrying?" Weiss asked, and Jaune looked at her nervously.

"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" Jaune asked, and Weiss looked at him curiously, "As many as want to."

Weiss flushed, first dark blue and then light. She then nervously looked down.

"We did decide who's going to carry what." Ruby stated.

* * *

Jaune carefully approached the cockpit, eventually crouching down so his antlers didn't hit the roof. "So, um... landing strategy?"

This caused the pilot to giggle and the co-pilot to laugh out loud. "Oh, man," the co-pilot said to him, "yeah, that's just for the first day. If you haven't noticed, Beacon loves pushing you out of your comfort zone. You can jump if you want to, but we _were_ planning to land, or... not really land... but hover like a foot off the ground. You'll want to watch your step."

* * *

Jaune jumped off the airship. He turned around, and the others started throwing him bags. Once the bags were on the ground he held out his hand to his team. Once they had climbed down, and Ruby, Blake, and Yang had jumped off, he held his hand out to Weiss. Weiss nervously took his hand and the airship jumped, Weiss falling into his arms. The two looked each other in the eyes. The airship's engines wound up and the two looked to see it climbing into the air.

"Soooo?" Nora asked, only to be shushed by Yang. Jaune and Weiss looked into each other's eyes for a moment before realizing where they were, and he quickly put her down. He turned to see Ren waving the airship off, and then back, watching Ruby wag her tail as she looked over the river.

"So?," Weiss asked, "what do we do now?"

"Set up camp." Yang stated.

"We need to find a good place, first." Jaune said, looking around.

"Found one!" Nora exclaimed. Jaune followed her gaze, and it offered good cover while having a good vantage point, as well.

"He going to say something?" Yang asked.

"He approves." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Last one there is a!.." Ruby exclaimed, followed by a "gack" as Jaune grabbed her by her hood.

"Maybe we should carry put our backpacks on first." Jaune stated.

"Nah," Yang stated, "let her run. I'm sure we can carry the rest."

Jaune then let Ruby go.

"We should make it sporting." Ren stated.

"Alright," Jaune said, "everyone who's racing get in a line." Ruby, Weiss, and Nora all got in a line. "Who wants to do the honours?" Jaune asked, and Ren flicked his wrist, causing his right Stormflower to appear in his hand.

"Ready?", Ren asked, "set?", and on the third beat fired once. Ruby ran off on all fours for a few paces before turning into rose petals. Weiss launched herself into the air with her Glyph, and almost seemed to be flying. Nora stood on her hammerhead and fired, launching her into the air. Half-way there, Ruby gassed out and had to stop to catch her breath, while Weiss would periodically use her glyphs for lift and propulsion, but otherwise seemed perfectly fine, with Nora spending most of the time gliding/soaring her way there. Weiss was the first to arrive, but had to kneel and catch her breath.

Nora landed with a thunderous blow onto the head of an Ursa. Jaune looked left and right to see everyone else had already left. "How much do they think I can carry?" he asked.

* * *

Nora spun her hammer around to hit another Ursa on the head. Weiss stumbled to her feet and drew her rapier. She spun the chamber around to use ice, and used her glyphs to launch it at several Beowulves. Next was Ruby, arriving dynamically with her scythe in a burst of rose petals. Next to arrive was Blake swinging in, and Yang dynamically punching another Ursa.

* * *

Jaune walked up to the group, with dissolving Grimm all around them. Weiss quickly looked at him, "How did you get here so quickly?"

"Uh... walking?" Jaune asked.

"Through the woods?" Weiss asked, and Jaune shrugged.

"Did he really just carry all of our backpacks?" Yang asked, and once again Jaune shrugged. "Could someone help me?" he asked, and his team moved over to help him remove the six backpacks. Jaune then slumped down on the ground.

"Our hero." Yang voiced.

"Uh-huh..." he dismissed. "Give me a minute and I'll get us some firewood."

Yang pulled the axe off his rucksack. "You just relax, we got this."

"But!.." Nora exclaimed, "Leader?!"

"Don't worry, I'll leave some for you." Yang replied. "Why don't you guys start on the tents?"

Weiss sunk her shoulders down, looking at the ground.

"Why don't you join me?" Jaune asked her, and she looked at him. "I saw you wheezing there."

"Chill, Ice Queen," Yang said to her, "we got this." Weiss looked around to find a tree to elegantly sit under. She looked up to see Jaune throwing something at her which she struggled to catch... his canteen. She held it for a moment before taking a drink from it.

"This is part of the plan..." Jaune voiced, and Weiss nervously looked down. "We... guessed you weren't much for roughing it..."

"You were... indeed... correct..." she mumbled.

"You're glowing blue." Jaune stated, and she looked down, seeing that she was.

"Dark... and light..." Jaune stated, and she nervously looked down. "I still don't know why you are so afraid of it..." She nervously looked up at him before looking back down. "Beautiful." he said, and the dark blue disappeared for a moment before quickly returning. Jaune then stood up. "Why don't you ask to help?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/620539146906271744/firen-lhain-chapter-006-wilder) tumblog.


	7. Dark

Jaune pointed at a hole in the ground. "This is the sump for any grey water."

"And... that is?.." Weiss nervously asked.

"Any water you use other than for the washroom," Jaune replied, "which is over there. So, cooking and cleaning and stuff."

"And... the um... washroom... I am guess... it's not polished porceline?.."

"It's a hole in the ground." Jauned stated, and Weiss sighed.

"Of course it is..." she grumbled, "but... I chose to be a huntress... We do... um... have... toilet paper... yes?.."

"Oh, good god, yes." Jaune replied. "That's not something you want to be without." Weiss looked at him nervously. "We do have a bucket of water and some soap by the latrine."

Weiss briefly smiled, and Jaune smiled brightly in reply. "What?" Weiss asked, and Jaune simply looked away. "What!" she said more firmly, and Jaune looked back at her.

"You... just... have a beautiful smile... but everything about you is beautiful, so why should your smile be special? Uh... hehe... I mean... um... the perimeter? Yes, we should talk about the perimeter."

"The first thing I've understood." Weiss said, and smiled, and her smile stayed this time.

"Me and Ruby will have the night watch." Jaune said, and Weiss nodded.

"And that is because of your eyes?"

"Eyeshine." Jaune stated. "We can see almost as well at night as Humans can during the day."

"And you will be quite alright, all alone?"

"Like I said..." he voiced, and looked away.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Weiss asked him.

"I don't know... coffee, maybe?.." Jaune asked her.

"That is something I can help you with." she said with a smile.

"The most important thing is to be able to stand-to when called."

"And what do you recommend?" Weiss asked.

"Sleep with your sword in it's scabbard with you." Jaune stated, "Wrapped around your arm or your shoulder. The tough part, if you are anxious, is going to be getting asleep at all. Just relax, breathe, and have faith in yourself."

Nora jumped on Jaune's back, grabbing onto his antlers, "AAAAND your friends!" With this, Jaune nodded, causing Nora to move with his antlers. Jaune then drew his sword and held it towards Weiss.

"Your turn." Nora added, still hanging from his antlers.

Weiss drew Myrtenaster and paused a moment before crossing swords with him.

"Our swords is all we have." Jaune stated, and Nora saw Pyrrha nervously standing in the background.

"I think Pyrrha wants to join in." Nora whispered to Jaune. Jaune looked at Pyrrha and waved her over. She drew her sword, crossed it with the other two, and giggled audibly.

* * *

Weiss watched Jaune dig a shallow pit, place rocks about the pit, and then stack the logs inside it. He then pulled out his flint and tinder and started to strike embers. He blew into the embers, and the logs eventually caught fire. He looked over at Weiss who looked at him nervously.

"The pit is so it doesn't escape, the rocks hold the heat, even after the fire is put out..." Jaune said.

"And the blowing?" Weiss asked.

"Fire needs air..." Jaune quietly said. He then looked around and grabbed a grill, putting over the fire.

"And that turns it into a stove?" Weiss asked, and he smiled.

"Okay, I take it you are not one for camping, but... you've never cooked around a bonfire?" Jaune asked.

"It... would be... unbecoming..." Weiss mumbled.

"Cooking around a bonfire?" Jaune asked.

"Such... a large fire... would be unbecoming... in of itself..."

"Wait, fires?" Jaune asked.

"Cooking with dust is much cleaner..." Weiss voiced.

"Okay, yeah..." Jaune said to her, "but... you've literally never sat around a bonfire?"

"I'm afraid not..." Weiss voiced, and Ruby appeared next to her with marshmallows, wagging her tail.

"Is everyone done?" Jaune asked, and Ruby looked down sadly.

"I'm good." Yang said, and put down the axe. Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren quickly appeared. Blake appeared out of nowhere with a book in her hand.

* * *

Weiss nearly panicked as her marshmallow caught on fire. Jaune quickly grabbed it from her, blowing it out. Weiss sheepishly looked down.

"It's still good." Jaune said to her, and Weiss just scoffed. In reply Jaune blew on the marshmallow for a moment before eating it, Weiss just staring at him. Ruby then handed Weiss a stick with her marshmallows on it.

"Is that burnt?" Weiss asked.

"It's fine, Ice Queen." Yang said to her, and she bit into her own somewhat burnt marshmallow. Weiss closed her eyes and bit into it. Her eyes grew wide as she wiped her face with a handkerchief.

"Indeed. Hardly nutritionally appropriate, though." Weiss quipped

"It's not camping without marshmallows." Yang stated.

"It's not?" Weiss asked.

"Have you seriously not gone camping?" Yang asked.

"Until Beacon, I've never lived anywhere without waitstaff." Weiss replied.

"Rough..." Yang stated, and Weiss looked forelornly at her.

"There is a reason... I opted for Beacon..." Weiss voiced. "I did not want to follow in my sister's footsteps..."

"Which were?" Yang asked.

"She is a Special Operative in Atlas."

"Uh... huh?.." Jaune asked.

"Huntsmen..." Blake voiced, looking up from her book, "attached to the military."

"I thought huntsmen were independant?" Jaune asked.

"It is..." Blake voiced, "controversial..."

"To say the least." Weiss stated. "Huntsmen were never meant to be at the beck-and-call of the military. History has shown that kingdoms that use huntsmen as pawns... always... abuse the priviledge..."

"And Atlas certainly knows something about abuse..." Blake added.

With this Weiss looked down and flushed dark blue. She breathed in deeply to stop it from happening.

"Why do you always do that?" Jaune asked, and Weiss looked up at him fearfully. Jaune dropped the subject, looking at the others surrounding the campfire.

* * *

Jaune found himself being shook awake. He grabbed whoever it was and pulled them in. It turned out to be Ren. Jaune let him go and pulled out of the sleeping bag. He looked at his scroll and it was 22 hours. He put his scroll away and started to put on his armour.

* * *

Jaune sat on a rock with a great vantage point of the surrounding area.

* * *

"Stand to!" Jaune shouted as loud as he could. "Stand to!"

* * *

RWBY and JNPR had gathered around, backs to each other in large circle, weapons in their hands. "So?" Weiss asked, "For those of us without... er... eyeshine?, what exactly are we facing?"

"Gorillas." Jaune said.

"Beringels." Weiss corrected.

Jaune then pointed his sword up-hill. "Large one over here."

"Silverback." Weiss stated.

Jaune then pointed his sword around, "A lot of smaller ones around."

Ruby was extremely eager to get fighting, stepped forward, and stopped. "Okay, we didn't really think about this? I mean, fighting at night."

"Since when have you thought about fighting?" Weiss asked.

"Why start now?" Yang asked.

"Leader?" Nora asked.

"I'll try to watch over you guys."

"And... Ruby?.." Nora asked, causing Ruby to snicker.

"Okay... alright... I might get a little... carried away..." Ruby stated.

"Let's make sure we talk to each other." Blake added.

"No need to hold back." Jaune stated, and Ruby turned into rose petals dashing away.

"Two in front of you." Jaune said to Weiss, and Weiss switched Myrtenaster to lightning dust. She saluted and then launched out a bolt of lightning, giving her a momentary glimpse of the Beringels approaching her.

"Yang's got the big one." Jaune stated, and Yang cracked her knuckles.

"Of course I do." Yang said with glee, her brown scales flushing orange.

"Ren and Nora have one." Jaune said, with gunshots from Crescent Rose heard from the background. Blake swung out to join her and Jaune looked around again. He was looking for more Grimm, but for the moment didn't find any. He then ran to Weiss, who was striking one of the Beringels with what looked like a bolt of lightning. She then stepped back to adopt her usual ready stance, before using her Glyph to launch her at the other Beringel. Jaune ran to the one she had just struck with lightning, trying to swing at it. His sword hit the arm, which the Beringel used to push off to the side. He pulled up his shield to block the incoming punch, but it still knocked him back.

Weiss dodged the attack from her Beringel, spinning Myrtenaster to ice. She began making light jabs at the Grimm as she moved around, looking for the moment to bury her rapier up to the hilt.

Jaune stumbled back. His Beringel barreled down on him with another punch. He instinctively moved his head so his antlers would intercept it... forgetting to surround them with aura. Once again, his antler broke, and he was staggered backwards Luckily for him, Miló as a spear came flying over his shoulder, impaling the Beringel. Pyrrha landed beside him, Miló returning her as a sword while Akoúo flew at it, knocking it backwards.

Weiss dodged backwards from her Beringel, spinning around and touching her rapier to the ground, summoning spikes of ice pointed at the Grimm. It was staggered by the sting of the ice, only to be impaled by Pyrrha's spear. The Beringel that had been attacking Jaune was now distracted by her, giving Jaune a chance to hack at it. Both Beringels disappeared.

Both Weiss and Pyrrha looked at Jaune with concern. He put on an awkward smile, tried to shrug, and ended up being pulled to the side with the remaining antler. The two rushed over to help him right himself.

"Maybe you should have a seat?" Pyrrha said him.

"You've certainly done your part for tonight." Weiss added.

Jaune fell onto his butt and slowly laid back.

"You just going to let him sleep there?" Blake asked, and both Pyrrha and Weiss looked about nervously. At him, at ground behind him, over to his sleeping bag. Jaune tried to stand up, wobbling as he did so.

"You don't need to..." Weiss tried to say.

"This isn't my first time losing my antler." Jaune stated. "It's just tricky to balance until I molt."

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said to him, "Can we help you?"

Jaune silently nodded. Pyrrha moved under his broken side, Weiss under his good side, and the two helped him to his sleeping bag.

"I guess it's my turn." Ruby said as she appeared, looking at Jaune forelornly.

"I'm pretty sure two nurse-maids are good enough." Blake stated. She then turned to Yang, "How did your fight go?"

"Better than Ladykiller's." Yang stated. "Nora and Ren came to help me out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/621173373973757952/firen-lhain-chapter-007-dark) tumblog.


	8. Velvet

Jaune woke up. He pulled out of his sleeping bag and stretched, trying to balance his lop-sided head. He looked around to see his team, along with Weiss and Ruby looking at him concerned. "I told you guys, it will grow back." They all still stared at him, unsure of who should say something first. "I... just forgot... to surround them with aura... Can you guys stop staring... I'm actually... really... embarassed by it... Anyways, I should be making..."

"Chill," Yang said, "Ren is making us..."

"PANCAKES!" Nora exclaimed.

Jaune looked over to find Ren was now missing. Jaune then looked to Pyrrha. "Thank... again..."

"I wish I could have..."

Jaune lifted his hand up an she stopped, "I told you, it will grow back. I'll just need a lot of..."

"PANCAKES!" Nora exclaimed, and Jaune nodded his head, nearly knocking himself over. The five nearly rushed at him.

"Fine." Jaune exclaimed, "Fine. Just have trouble balancing. You guys can't treat me like a baby every time I lose an antler..."

"Yes, perhaps you could try to do less of this." Weiss said to him.

"I know." Jaune stated, "I know. I just need to remember to cover them in aura when I'm fighting."

"They would be wicked-cool-deadly if you did!" Ruby exclaimed.

"They... would..." Jaune said with a wide smile.

"Now that we have survived the night?.." Weiss asked, "what do we?.."

"Not." Ren said from the campfire, and looked at Jaune with a smile.

"Die." Jaune stated.

"That is what we were told to do." Blake said from under a tree as she read.

"And..." Weiss nervously asked, "what do we do in the meantime?"

"Keep house." Yang stated.

"Scout." Jaune added, "Go hunting?"

"Oooh!" Ruby said as she raised her hand.

"Huh?" Jaune asked.

"Okay," Ruby continued, "dad never took us hunting, and I've always wanted to go!"

Jaune shrugged, "I didn't really think about hunting. I only brought my sword."

"What do you usually use?!" Ruby eagerly asked.

"Longbow." Jaune said, and Ruby, Weiss, and Yang just stared at him. "What?"

"What kind of huntsman used a longbow?" Yang asked.

"Who said my father was a huntsman?" Jaune asked, "I said warrior."

Ren looked up before looking back to his cooking.

"Warriors are pretty cool." Nora added.

"I'm sorry..." Pyrrha voiced, and everyone looked at her, "I am used to spear-hunting?"

Weiss looked at her eagerly.

"Did you care to join me?" Pyrrha asked. Weiss flushed a light blue while nodding.

Blake closed her book and stood up, walking towards them. "Would you mind if I came along?" she asked.

"It would be wonderful." Pyrrha said with a bright smile. She then turned to Weiss. "I'm sorry, but you are going to have to wash before we go hunting."

"I assure you I am quite clean." Weiss replied, and subtly lifted her arm to give it a quick sniff.

"That, I'm afraid, is the problem." Pyrrha said to her, clapping her hands together.

"I'm... too clean?.." Weiss nervously asked.

"Your perfume." Blake added.

"It is... wonderful..." Jaune stated.

"But not if you are hiding from animals." Blake continued.

"They can smell better than we can." Pyrrha said.

"And... their first response to something they don't understand is to run." Blake continued.

"So, I should smell like what, dirt?" Weiss asked, causing Jaune to snicker.

"Something other than a person." Blake stated.

"Did I say something funny?" Weiss asked.

"It's just..." Pyrrha added, "some of the things used to hide... your scent... do not smell as lovely as you do..."

"Such as?.." Weiss asked, and Blake leaned in to whisper into her ear. Weiss scoffed in reply. "You can't be serious?" she asked, and Blake nodded.

"Why don't you start with an unscented soap?" Blake asked.

"There is just... a problem with that..." Weiss voiced.

"What, are you sensitive?" Blake asked, and Jaune stepped towards them, trying his best to hold his head up straight.

"She is an heiress." Jaune stated.

"I will have you know..." Weiss said to him, but then something finally occured to her. "I... am..."

"Nothing wrong with that." Jaune stated, and Blake rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry..." Pyrrha voiced.

"And what about your scent?" Weiss asked Pyrrha.

"I'm sorry..." Pyrrha echoed, "but I don't wear perfume. This caused Weiss to flush light and dark hues.

"That might make it hard to stay camouflaged." Blake added, and Weiss dropped her head. She then looked up a moment later.

"And... Pyrrha's bodice?" Weiss asked, and Pyrrha wrapped a cloak around herself.

"And, yes... well..." Weiss tried to say, and Ruby appeared right in front of her.

"Why don't you come scouting with me?" Ruby asked.

Weiss stared at her for a moment before replying, "That will work." Ruby grabbed her hand and pulled her along. "Now?" Weiss asked.

"PANCAKES!" Nora exclaimed, and Ruby stopped in her tracks. Jaune stumbled to the side for a moment before righting himself.

* * *

Jaune ate his pancakes as he felt something in his antlers. "Here we go." he said, and leaned his head back as his antlers slowly fell off.

"That's... it?.." Weiss asked him, and Jaune looked back at her. "I don't know... I figured it was more involved..."

"So, what happens now?" Yang asked.

"Velvet." Jaune stated.

"What does that have to do with?.." Weiss asked.

"He means biology." Blake stated.

"Velvet is what grows the antlers." Jaune continued, "When it's finished, it's sheds off."

"How... long does that take?.." Yang asked.

"It depends on how much food and rest I have, but like... a day?"

"Okay..." Blake said, "I thought they regrew way too quickly last time, but really, a day?"

"What?.." Jaune asked.

"I'm sorry..." Pyrrha voiced, "but wild deer... take months..."

"Okay... yeah... but... really?.." Jaune asked. "I guess it took my sisters a lot longer to grow them... but I don't know... I guess I never really thought about it."

"Prodigal." Ren stated.

"But, I mean?.." Weiss asked, "how can you?.." Then something caught her eye, little protrusions on his head. "Are you already?.."

"I _am_ eating..." Jaune voiced.

"Can I touch it?" Nora asked.

"It's..." Jaune tried to say.

"You don't have to." Blake stated.

"It's just... very sensitive..." Jaune mumbled.

"What?" Nora asked, "They're antlers, aren't they?" she then rammed her fists together.

"They are incredibly soft while they are growing." Pyrrha added.

"Now I really want to touch them."

Jaune sighed and put down his plate. "Who wants to touch them?" Nora and Ruby eagerly held up their hands. Blake shyly lifted her hand.

"You know what?" Yang asked, and lifted her hand.

"Pyrrha?" Nora asked, and Pyrrha shyly lifted her hand, barely able to lift her head and look at him before looking back down.

"You in, Weiss Queen?" Yang asked, and Weiss simply looked down. "Your loss."

"Alright..." Jaune mumbled, and Nora quickly jumped to her feet, "But one, after breakfast, and I'm HUNGRY."

Ren dropped another stack of pancakes on his plate."

"Two, I get to sit comfortably while doing it. Three, you all have to be really careful, and four, one at a time."

* * *

Jaune laid back in a small hollow. Ruby had won whatever contest they had done to decide the order, tail wagging as she approached him. "Easy." Jaune said, and she nervously touched the nubs that seemed to grow at her touch.

"My turn." Yang said from behind her, and Ruby pulled her hand away, stepping aside. "Oh, that's the stuff."

"Must you phrase it that way?" Weiss asked.

"Jealous?" Yang asked her, and Weiss just scoffed.

"My turn!" Nora eagerly said from behind her, and Yang stepped aside. Nora rubbed his nubs. She then gave Blake a bright smile. Blake stepped forward, and looked around nervously.

"One of us." Yang said, "One of us." Yang and Ruby said at the same time. "One of us." Yang, Ruby, and Nora chanted. Blake quickly rubbed the nubs before withdrawing her hand. Yang then looked at Weiss. "It really feels like velvet."

Weiss nervously looked at Jaune, who simply shrugged his shoulders and then waved her over. Weiss nervously moved over and he tilted his head towards her. She reached out and touched it, her eyes growing wide with shock.

"See?" Yang asked her.

Jaune then looked over to see Nora pushing Pyrrha towards him. He leaned his head towards Pyrrha, who reached out to touch it, blushing all the while.

* * *

Ruby appeared in a burst of rose petals. Weiss dove in after her, body strangely controlled during her perfect landing. Yang bounded in a moment later. Jaune walked up with four--point antlers.

"Shit, man," Yang said to him, "they are really growing back?"

"I'm curious why we didn't see this last time?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah... well... I was kind of... embarassed by it..." Jaune voiced, "and you know, had trouble balancing, so I just hid in my room for a few days."

"You should have seen how much he ate!" Nora exclaimed.

"Don't really have the option here." Jaune continued.

"Did you see any Grimm?" Ren asked.

"Ooohhh yeeaahhh." Yang replied.

"Six groups." Weiss stated, "All dispersed. About a troop, each."

"What do you think we should do?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I don't know..." Jaune stated, "how many are going to come close to the camp."

"Two." Weiss replied, "If they follow their current routes."

"Nah," Ruby said, "it's going to be three, and not the one you think it is."

"I am curious how you can say that?" Weiss said, glaring at her.

"Sis just has a feeling for these things." Yang stated, but Weiss still glared at Ruby.

"Indeed?" Weiss asked, and Ruby just shrugged her shoulders.

"So, we take them out?!" Nora said with glee.

"That would be most prudent." Weiss said with a nod.

"What about the camp?.." Yang asked.

"We all know who that should be..." Jaune grumbled. "I'll watch the camp, you guys have fun. Pyrrha and Blake can't be that much longer."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Nora said to him. Jaune tried to say something in reply, but was completely unsure of what to say.

* * *

Jaune aired out all of the sleeping bags as he heard the sounds of dust echoing in the distance, and sighed. Was he ever going to a warrior?, nevermind a huntsman. He couldn't even protect himself, nevermind someone else.

* * *

Pyrrha and Blake returned, with a number of grouse hanging from Pyrrha's spear, held over both of their shoulders. Jauned was slumped on the ground and looked over his shoulder at them.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" Pyrrha asked him.

"Yeah... yeah... I'm fine..." Jaune mumbled as the stood up to look at them. They, of course, didn't believe him, but didn't know what to do.

* * *

The grouse, plucked, cleaned, and impaled on their sticks, Jaune, with six-point antlers, placed them around the fire, and then slumped back down. Pyrrha looked at him nervously.

"You going to say something?.." Blake quietly asked her, and Pyrrha nervously looked down. "Yeah..."

* * *

Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Nora all made dynamic entries, while Ren seemed to appear out of nowhere. Ruby saw Jaune slumped over and burst into rose petals to fly over to him. She landed on all fours, "You okay?"

"Yeah... yeah..." Jaune replied, "I just have to remember to keep my aura up when fighting. If I did, they would go from vulnerability to..."

"Wicked-cool unstoppable weapons!" Ruby eagerly said, causing Jaune to develop a faint smile.

"Thank you." Jaune said to her.


	9. Yellow Streak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story runs parallel to Jaundice / Forever Fall, (it's easy to forget how short the early episodes were, to the point that all four basically up to to the screen time of a regular half hour/22 minute episode).

Cardin held his mace above his head as he looked down at Jaune, when a buzzer sounded. Glynda walked out, "That's enough. Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red. If this were tournament-style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match. Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when it is appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowulf, now would we?"

"Speak for yourself." Cardin said, as held his mace over his shoulder and turned to walk away.

* * *

RWBY walked into their dorm room. "Oh, man," Yang said excitedly, "I'm pumped about the festival."

"Too bad what happened to Jaune..." Ruby voiced.

"And... you just have to bring me down..." Yang said, and turned to look at her sister. "Look, no one likes what Cardin is doing to him, but does anyone have a plan to fix it?" At this, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were silent. "That's what I thought."

"The only one that can help Jaune... is Jaune..." Blake voiced. "All we can do is be ready to pick up the pieces... It's not like he's the only one that is being discriminated against."

"But!," Ruby said proudly, "he's - our - friend!"

"Exactly." Yang stated.

"Indeed." Weiss added, and Yang looked at her questioningly. Weiss nervously looked away, her proud stance turning into a shy, uncertain one. "But what happens when the Vytal festival arrives, and he is still?.."

"He's going to get creamed." Yang said.

"Unless his team can save him." Blake added.

"He does have Pyrrha Nikos on his team." Weiss stated.

"This is Jaune we are talking about!" Ruby exclaimed.

"He's loveable..." Yang stated, "but that doesn't mean he can fight. And that's one thing a huntsman needs to be able to do..."

"He's great at watching..." Blake voiced, "Remember what he did in the Emerald Forest..."

"If I didn't have you girls," Yang uttered, "I'd love to have him on my team."

"Good thing... you do..." Blake said to her.

"I trust you girls more than anyone I've trusted in my life." Yang replied, "You can't tell me it wasn't real? That it's not real?"

"Our team is coming along swimmingly." Weiss added.

"But that includes Jaune, doesn't it?" Ruby asked.

"Of course it does, sis." Yang replied, "It wouldn't be the same without any of them."

"And the antlers are pretty cool." Ruby said, and Yang developed a wicked smile.

* * *

"Ms. Xiao Long." Ozpin said, as she walked into the stone cloister. "We have approved your request. Yang looked at the stone pillar in the centre of the cloister with a wicked grin. "As you expect, the stone pillar is yours to do with as you please."

Yang cracked her neck back and forth, and pulled down the strike-plates on her Ember Celica.

"I will leave you to your training." Ozpin said to her.

"Thank you, Professor." Yang replied.

Ozpin walked away, swinging his cane. "Ah, the energy of youth. That takes me back... quite a ways..."

* * *

Blake swung about the spires of Beacon at night, when she saw something on one of the rooftops.

* * *

Blake walked into RWBY's room with a confused look on her face. "What's up?" Yang asked, as Blake closed her door.

"I just saw Jaune... with Cardin?.." Blake asked.

"What?" Yang asked her.

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed from her hanging bed.

"But?.." Weiss nervously asked.

"Yeah," Yang said, "they don't exactly get along..."

"To put it mildly." Weiss added.

Ruby's head appeared out of her bed, "What do we do?"

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.

"Well... I mean..." Ruby stammered.

"This isn't right." Yang added.

"I doubt Jaune is doing this out of benevolence." Weiss stated.

"More like violence." Yang said to her.

"We can't exactly do anything..." Blake stated, and the girls all looked at her, "without knowing for sure."

"But?.." Ruby asked, "Jaune?.."

"If he doesn't come to us for help..." Blake sadly said, "there's nothing we can do?.."

"How do you?.." Weiss asked her.

"Because maybe I had my own!.." Blake shouted, "I mean... just... let's just drop it. It's not exactly something I want to share, especially not with a Schnee."

Weiss gasped as Blake turned towards the door and stepped out.

"Yikes." Yang stated.

* * *

Blake sat on one of the parapets overlooking Beacon. "I... can't believe I said that..." she voiced, "but... she is a Schnee. A couple months ago, she was my greatest enemy. I can't believe... I trust her? How could I ever trust a Schnee?.."

* * *

"So?" Yang asked Weiss, "You do something to tick her off?"

"I am... uncertain?" Weiss asked. She sat on her bed, shoulders pulled in, looking into nothing.

* * *

Pyrrha forlornly looked out JNPR's window, into the dark of the night. Nora came up behind and gave her a hug. Pyrrha sighed. "I know..." Nora quietly said, before letting her go.

A quiet tension filled the room until Jaune finally returned. He quietly sat down to do homework. At which point the tension shifted from absence to unspoken.

* * *

Professor Oobleck walked into Ozpin's office. Well, for him it was a walk, for most it would be a run.

"Batholomew?" Ozpin asked.

"I have come on a situation of the gravest importance!" Oobleck said to him, and Ozpin just smiled a quiet smile at him. "Academic misconduct!"

"And, who is it?" Ozpin asked.

"Without getting into Mr. Arc's apparent lack of academic abilities as a huntsman, I required my two delinquent students to write an essay." Barthomolew then put two stapled stacks of paper on Ozpin's desk.

Ozpin picked up the essays, and quickly read through them. He then looked up, giving Bartholomew a knowing look.

"It is highly unlikely that they were written by two different individuals. If I had to guess, I'd say Mr. Winchester's essay lacks his daunting self-assurance. This is dreadful, truly dreadful."

Ozpin thought for a moment before speaking, "Do you have any proof."

"Unfortunately," Oobleck stated, "that is the one thing I do not have."

"This is not... the first time... that Mr. Winchester's name has come across my desk." Ozpin replied. "Until now, Mr. Arc's problem has been ability..." Ozpin drank from his coffee cup. "Do exactly as I expect you to do."

"I will keep detailed records on every scrap of evidence I've come across." Oobleck replied.

* * *

Jaune sat on his bed, breathing heavily, bathed in the morning light.

"You coming, Leader?" Nora asked him, and his eyes opened.

"Coming!"

* * *

Cardin cowered, his teammates fled, and the Ursa Major bore down upon him. There was only one man who could do something, and that was Jaune. He dove between the charging Ursa and Cardin, using his shield to brace against the swipe. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to do, but his aura held, his arm held, his feet held. The Ursa pushed down upon him, and he had to summon all of his strength... aura-amplified strength... to push it back. It was at that moment that it finally became clear to him. That was they RWBY and his team were able to move so quickly, jump so high, ricochet off trees like like an air hockey game. It was not just themselves, but their aura. It felt like his... substantial... energy was exploding inside himself. He managed to push the Ursa away, and strike at it with his sword.

He adopted a braced stance. His sword helped balance against his shield, his antlers balanced against one-another. The Usra bore down on him once again, dropping it's great paw. He once again braced it against his shield. This time he felt his aura diminished by the strike. This was what it felt like. This is what hte others already knew. He dug his left antler into the Ursa's paw and it recoiled. It did not last long as it bore down again, this time with it's left paw. Jaune stepped into the attack, trying to headbutt the Ursa.

He was not used to attacking with his antlers. Before he knew about aura he always thought they were too fragile to be used in any truly dangerous situations... and too deadly to use in any others. His antlers hit... somewhat... causing the Ursa to step back, looking at him. The Ursa was filled with it's iconic rage, but Jaune could feel his blood boiling as well. The Ursa charged at him, striking down once again, and once again Jaune blocked it. Once again he felt his aura ebb. He looked at the scroll placed on the back of his shield, and showed his aura was still mostly full. He swung at the Ursa. He hit, though not enough to deal significant damage. But, he had left himself open, and the Ursa swung in.

He felt his aura reinforce his breastplate. The breastplate took the brunt of the attack. His aura seemed to stretch the attack across the rest of his body. He stagged back, and then squared his head. He had to to balance his antlers and balance himself. The Ursa charged at him again. He once again braced for the attack, but felt something tug at his shield. His shield moved just enough to parry, knock the paw away as it bore down, leaving the Ursa completely defensiveless. Jaune's sword passed through the Ursa's neck, and the two separated in darkness. He breathed in deeply to recentre himself, noticing the Ursa begining to evaporate beside him. It seemed to take a lot longer than the Beowulves had. He should really be paying attention in Professor Port's lectures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/622441711019474944/firen-lhain-chapter-009-yellow-streak) tumblog.


	10. Fitness

Yang ran around Beacon when she came across Jaune doing pushups, shirtless. She nearly fell over as she skidded to a stop. "Well, shit."

Jaune finished his reps and stood up, looking at her. "Hello?"

"You're really pumping up, aren't you?" Yang asked. "Pumped up... I mean pumped up..."

"It's like I finally know why I'm here." Jaune replied.

"And... why's that?.." Yang asked.

"My team." Jaune said, "My friends." he smiled.

Yang looked around nervously.

"You girls have been wonderful to me." Jaune continued.

"We.. have?.." Yang asked. "Even Weiss?" With this Jaune's smile grew even brighter. "So, you still got a thing for her?" Jaune shrugged and then nodded his head. "What's she got that I don't?" Yang asked. Jaune looked at her like a deer in the headlights. "Uh, keep it up." she said, and Jaune nodded at her. Yang continued on her run.

* * *

Yang rounded a corner and flatened her back against it. She clutched her chest and she breathed headily. "What the hell was that?"

* * *

Weiss drew her rapier across herself as she adopted her ready stance. She breathed in deep to focus herself, to find her place in the universe. The first thing she saw was her father, which immediately angered her. Her feathers flushed a deep, dark blue, and she breathed deeply in. The flush moderately faded. She then thought of her sister, and the dark blue hues were mixed with lights. She remembered all of the harsh lessons her sister had taught her, but she would not be the huntress she was without her. She shuddered as she thought what would happen if she did not have her sister's training. She breathed in deeply, and the flush disappeared. In it's place she tried picturing Grimm.

In her mind, a Beowulf appeared in front of her. She breathed in and out as she prepared herself for her routine. She saw the Beowulf charging at her. She used her Glyph to launch herself forward, lancing the Beowulf with her rapier. She then turned to the other Beowulfes attacking her, dancing out of the way before giving the second a retort. She spun around, striking the first one. She turned around, three Beowulves disolving around her, when many more charged at her. She used her Glyphs to multiply her ice dust attack, launching a number of ice shards in their direction... when... her imaginings faded, only to be replaced by that of the lanky, antlered gentleman. She panicked, spreading the ice shards away.

When her vision focused, he was gone... She breathed in deep trying to recentre herself. He had never even been there... But... whyever did he appear? She felt her feathers fluff up and looked down to see a light blue hue. Really?

Wait?, she thought to herself, and stood at attention, saluting before lowering her sword. Just when did he become a gentleman? She breathed in deep trying to reclear her head. Her flush ran away and she once again summoned her imaginary Beowulves.

* * *

Ruby had Crescent Rose's blade buried into the ground, taking aim down range.

* * *

Blake ran along the rooftops of Beacon, trying to clear her head. It focued on two things, her ex, the monster, Adam, and the seemingly sweet but likely treacherous Schnee. How could she have such affection for her? She was a Schnee, and deep down, she knew she would act like a Schnee. It was in their nature, just like hers gave her a fondness of high places. She shook her head. There's no way she would acknowledge she had such feelings. But a viper was always a viper; a monster was always a monster.

* * *

Ren breathed in deeply with eyes closed, trying to meditate as Nora smashed Grimm dummies with her hammer.

* * *

Pyrrha cheerfully looked up at the stadium seating. "Do we have any volunteers?" Glynda asked.

* * *

Yang shadow boxed with her weapons. The image of Jaune doing his pushups flashed in her head and she stopped. "What the hell was that?"

A flush of rose petals appeared beside her. "What's up sis?"

"Oh, shit!" Yang exclaimed, breathing in deeply. "Oh, it's you, Ruby..." Yang's brown scales were nearly glowing orange.

"I've never seen you like that." Ruby said her.

"Oh, quit it, Ruby..." Yang voiced.

"Okay, even more suspicious." Ruby continued.

"Can't a girl blush in peace?" Yang asked, and Ruby giggled at her. She moved to smack her sister, but Ruby disappeared in a burst of rose petals. "Shit." Yang voiced, and slumped foward.

* * *

"Of all the vexatious daliances..." Weiss voiced, "Perhaps not phrased the best way..." She breathed in deeply. "Perhaps I should lose myself in my studies?.."

* * *

JNPR ran about Beacon, with Jaune trailing behind. Nora looked over her shoulder, "Come on, Leader!"

"You can do it!" Pyrrha added. Jaune breathed in deep, and did his best to try and catch up to his team mates.

Ruby watched JNPR running, tail wagging.

* * *

RWBY gathered together in their physical fitness kit. "Why, praytell, are we here?" Weiss asked her.

"Team run!" Ruby shouted.

"I, for one," Weiss continued, "prefer to fight with grace rather than brute strength." She then glanced over to Yang who was raising her eyebrows in reply. "No offence."

"None taken." Yang said, "Unless you think that's what Ladykiller likes?"

"He has taken a liking to Weiss." Blake added.

"He's taken a liking to all of us." Yang replied.

"Hm?" Blake asked, Weiss looking at her curiously, Ruby looking at her eagerly.

"What?" Yang said, and then eagerly continued, "He thinks we're all... his friends?.."

"A little eager?" Blake asked.

"What can I say?.." Yang asked, "You girls mean more to me than anyone else ever did. And JNPR feels like a little brother, ya'know?"

Weiss huffed, but Ruby looked wide-eyed with wonder.

"I'm... an only kid..." Blake quietly voiced. Yang looked at her with wide eyes. "What?" Blake asked.

Yang stretched. "Oh, just, you know, we managed to learn something about you, is all. Alright, girls, enough blabbing. Let's get going."

Ruby turned into rose petals, moving about 10 feet ahead of them, turning back. She raised her arm into the air. "Let's go!"

* * *

RWBY stopped, Ruby, Blake, Yang slumping over to various degrees to catch their breath. Weiss seemed content to pant while trying to stand at attention.

"Even now she tries to be all prissy." Yang voiced.

"Just because you..." Weiss said, and panted, "are a ruffian..." and panted, "doesn't mean that I..." and panted.

"Sometimes," Yang said to her, "you just got to relax... let go... do what your body tells you..."

"I am," Weiss said and panted, "quite - alright."

"Do we need the running commentary?" Blake asked, and Yang just audibly stretched in reply.

* * *

"Good work, team." Jaune said, standing in front of NPR, all breathing heavily.

"What now, Leader?" Nora asked.

Jaune initially shrugged. "Shower... then meet in the dorm room." With this Nora saluted in reply.

* * *

Jaune and Ren walked down the hallway wearing nothing but towels. RWBY jumped out of the way, turning their heads to watch them pass.

* * *

RWBY walked into their dorm room. "Okay," Blake said, "now I know what Yang was so excited about on the first night." This caused Yang to let out a giggle.

"We are here to become huntresses." Weiss lightly admonished.

"uh-huh?" Yang asked her, "You're almost as colourful as I am."

* * *

JNPR stood in their room, fully dressed. "So, what do we do now, GLORIOUS LEADER?!" Nora exclaimed.

"Like what?.." Jaune asked, "a group cheer?"

"Why not?" Ren asked, and Pyrrha giggled.

Jaune looked between his team mates and put his hand in, "Uh, all four one?"

"All for one!" JNPR cheered.

* * *

Blake was reading on her bed and looked up. "Was that what I thought it was?.."

"Sounds like JNPR is getting along." Yang said with a snicker.

"Please tell me we're not going to do that?" Blake asked, and Ruby looked disappointed. Weiss looked on, curiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/623075911145865216/firen-lhain-chapter-010-fitness) tumblog.


	11. I Am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This runs parallel to the Checkmate arc, (Stray to Black and White)

RWBY were walking through Vale, "Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." Ruby said to her, "It's kind of weirding me out..." she mumbled.

"A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang depressingly said.

"Quiet you!" Weiss admonished her they approached the docks.

"Remind me again," Yang voiced, "why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"

"Ugh," Ruby exclaimed, "they smell like fish!", causing Blake to roll her eyes.

"I've heard," Weiss said to her, "that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a _r_ _epresentative_ of Beacon, I feel as though it is my _solemn_ duty to welcome them to this _fine_ kingdom!"

"She wants to spy on them," Blake added, "so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." This caused Weiss to scoff.

"You can't prove that!"

Ruby stopped as, looking down the street, she saw a dust shop with broken windows, a police line, and police officers. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, and walked up to the tape to talk to one of the officers, "What happened here?"

"Robbery." the first detective said to her, "Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." At this, Blake looked away with disgust while Yang sighed.

"That's terrible."

"They left all the money again." the second detective added.

"Huh?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah," the first Detective asked, "just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?"

"I don't know, an army?" the second one asked.

"You thinking the White Fang?" the first detective asked.

"Yeah," the second one replied, "I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Hmph! The White Fang." Weiss exclaimed, crossing her arms and pointing her nose in the air, "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

"What's _your_ problem?" Blake asked.

" _My_ problem?" Weiss asked, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake stated "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided?" Weiss asked, "They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're _**very**_ misguided." Blake exclaimed, "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"

"Hmm... Blake's got a point." Ruby interjected, "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss exclaimed, "Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"That's... not necessarily true..." Yang voiced. 'oh, come on, Ice Queen.' she pleaded internally.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!" a man shouted.

RWBY rushed over to the boat, and Weiss sighed. "Stuff like this must make it tough to be a Faunus..."

"There are... far worse things..." Blake stated. "Have you seen how Humans treat... them?"

"Seeing this?," Weiss asked, "are you at all surprised?" and Blake looked down dejectedly.

* * *

Jaune knocked on RWBY's door, and got no reply.

"Maybe they are in town." Pyrrha said from behind him, and he shrugged.

* * *

JNPR opened their door and looked out as they heard shouting coming from RWBY's room.

"Uh... maybe we should just..." Jaune voiced, as he stepped back into their dorm room and closed the door.

* * *

They heard someone storm out of RWBY's room, and JNPR just looked at each other nervously.

* * *

Weiss tried to stand at attention as she looked out into the moonlight, and sighed. More than one secret hangs by a thread.

* * *

Jaune knocked on RWBY's door. Ruby opened the door, and saw NPR's heads sticking out of their room. "You guys alright?" Jaune asked, and Ruby sadly looked down.

"Weiss and Blake... had a bit of a..."

"Blowup." Yang said from inside the room.

"What about?" Jaune asked, and again, Ruby looked down, nervously. "Can I come in?.."

* * *

Jaune stood in the middle of RWBY's room, looking about. Yang was sitting on her bed, Weiss was laying on hers. "Okay, so... it turns out... Blake is with the White Fang..."

"The what?" Jaune asked.

"How could you possibly not know about those ruffians?" Weiss asked, "Those terrorists?" Jaune simply blunk at her in reply. "HOW COULD YOU?!.."

"EASY!" Yang shouted, and Weiss looked at the bed hanging above her. "The White Fang were a Faunus protest group... but something changed, and now they are starting all the fights."

"Do you have any idea what the White Fang have done to me?!" Weiss exclaimed. "To my family?!"

"But you..." Jaune said. He stopped as she looked at him starkly. "I think we need to talk." Weiss sadly nodded.

* * *

Jaune carefully worked his antlers into JNPR's dorm room. "Could we have the room?" he asked, and Nora stood up and saluted.

"We'll see you in the cafeteria." Pyrrha said with glee.

* * *

Jaune sat on his bed and gestured to Nora's. Weiss moved over and elegantly sat on Nora's bed, eyes still downcast. "Why... how does the White Fang have something against you?"

"Perhaps?.." Weiss nervously asked, "my father's... questionable... business choices..."

"But you are..." Jaune tried to say, but Weiss' look of anguish caused him to trail off.

"You swore you would not tell anyone about that." Weiss admonished him.

"I know... I mean... unless they already know about it... and you know about it... I mean..." he tried to say. "Are you saying... your family... discriminates against..." he then trailed off, gesturing to Weiss.

"Yes... well... they are... nothing but brutes and rapscallions..."

"And how does that work?" Jaune asked her.

"It... does not..." Weiss nervously replied, "If I do not have complete and utter control over my emotions, the colours of my plummage show themself..." She was nearly hyperventilating.

"You're safe here." Jaune stated, "I already know.

With this Weiss' breathing started to even out, and her plummage flushed dark blue... though... with hints of light...

"How can your father... do that to you?.." Jaune asked. "Make you deny such an important part of yourself."

"Quite simply, it seems." Weiss nervously, tersely, tensely replied, and then finally seemed to ease a bit, "Our entire lives we have been... heavily encouraged... to be good little scions of the house of Schnee... and nothing else..."

"I didn't know that Atlas had great houses?" Jaune asked.

"In truth, it does not." Weiss replied, "But that does not stop my father from having a talk with General Ironwood whenever he needs to. If you do not know, General Ironwood has two seats on the Atlas council. We do not have noble families, but we have families richer than nobles ever were, who effectively control the course of the kingdom from the shadows. The thing Father is most afraid of... is our house... falling..."

"And what do you want?" Jaune asked, and Weiss' eyes grew wide with shock. "Are you just going to let your father make you feel ashamed for existing? Seriously, if your father can't accept your for being a Faunus, why?.. just why?.."

"And just what, pray tell, do you expect me to do?" Weiss asked him.

"I don't know, accept that you are the beautiful Faunus I know you are?" Jaune asked. Weiss' dark blues largely turned to light. Her depression seemed to turn to hope. "You'll certainly have our support."

"And my family?.." Weiss asked, and Jaune simply shrugged.

"If they can't accept you?.." he said, and once again Weiss looked down.

* * *

"Look Weiss," Ruby quickly said, "it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing. See, she doesn't actually have a bow, she has kitty ears and they're actually kind of cute..."

Weiss simply ignored her, pushing her way past as she approached Blake, seated after her ordeal.

"Weiss," Blake quickly said to her, "I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-"

"Stop!" Weiss exclaimed, "Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you? - _Twelve_ hours. That means I've had twelve hours to think about this. And in that twelve hours, I've decided..." Yang, Sun, and Ruby look on, worried. "I don't care."

"You don't care?" a surprised Blake asked.

"You said you are not one of them anymore," Weiss said to her, "right?"

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger..." Blake tried to say, but Weiss quickly cut her off.

"Ah-bah-bah-bah-bah! I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up... you'll come to your teammates. And not some..." she said, and looked at Sun, "Someone else."

Blake looked between a grinning Ruby and Yang and wiped a tear from her eye, "Of course."

The four were having a wonderful moment until Ruby had to scream, "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!"

Weiss pointed at Sun, "I'm still not quite sure about how I feel about you!"

Ruby looked around, "Hey, wait a minute... Where's Penny?"

Weiss breathed in deeply a few times before speaking. "There is something I must say to you."

Ruby, Blake, Yang and Sun all gathered around. Weiss used her glyph to launch Sun backwards, "Not you!"

Sun just shrugged in reply.

* * *

Ruby, Blake, and Yang all sat on their bed. Weiss stood in the centre, breathing deeply. "I guess I will just come out and say it... though you are all sworn to secrecy." Ruby, Blake, and Yang all nodded. "I... am a Faunus..."

Ruby's tail wagged eagerly.

"You're a WHAT?!" Blake exclaimed, and Weiss dropped her head.

"Blake!" Ruby admonished, and Blake looked down nervously.

"S... sorry..." Blake voiced, "But how does that make any sense?.."

"My father..." Weiss voiced, "is not exactly... a gentleman..."

"So?," Yang asked, "Dad's an asshole, but how this make you change colour?"

Blake glared at Yang through the bottom of her bed.

"If you must know?," Weiss asked, "I suppose, when stressed, your hair stands on it's end?"

"Uh, yeah?" Yang asked.

"For me," Weiss continued, "my plummage has colours..."

"Whatage?" Ruby asked.

"Her feathers." Blake stated, "Feathers?!"

"My plummage is light enough to be invisible." Weiss continued, "You are familiar with raven as a colour, correct?"

"Yeah?" Yang asked.

"It's through light refraction that gives it a blue hue." Weiss stated. "My feathers do the same. The higher the angle, the greater the refraction."

"So?" Ruby asked, "the more stressed out you are, the more blue you become?" and Weiss nodded.

"So, why the change of heart?" Yang asked, and Weiss developed a light blue hue, clutching her heart.

"Do I need a reason?" she asked.

"We - are - a - team!" Ruby exclaimed, and Blake shyly smiled and nodded.

"Unless anyone else has a deep confession they'd like to make?" Yang asked.

"I do... kind of... have a bit of a thing..." Ruby said, "for Jaune..."

"Good you can finally admit it." Yang stated, and Weiss' light blues darkened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/623710084278763520/firen-lhain-chapter-011-i-am) tumblog.


	12. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going right into season two. Already written up to chapter 9.

"I have gathered you here today!" Ruby shouted.

"This - is - our - dorm - room." Blake languidly stated.

"Irregardless!" Ruby replied.

"Irrespective." Weiss corrected.

"I... guess... Anyways, now that we are officially a team!, we should go to the movies together!"

"'Bout time." Yang said, and jumped down from her bed.

"I suppose one day should not distract us too much from our studies." Weiss said, and Ruby quickly hid a binder behind her back with Weiss' name crossed out on it.

* * *

"You hear that, Leader?" Nora asked.

"Sure?" Jaune asked, "let's go to the movies." He looked at Ren who quietly acknowleged it. He looked to Pyrrha who was smiling even more than she usually does.

"Someone's giddy." Nora said to Pyrrha.

"Oh, this is... just... my first time... seeing a movie... with my friends..." Pyrrha replied.

Nora shyly looked about. "It is ours as well." Ren quietly stated.

"Friends?.." Jaune asked whistfully.

* * *

RWBY sat on the airship, as they saw Jaune struggling to get his antlers through the door. He finally got inside and turned to the back. He waved at RWBY. Ruby eagerly waved back as her tail wagged. Jaune walked up to a seat as his team filed in.

* * *

JNPR got off the airship with RWBY coming off soon behind them. Jaune stretched his neck now that he finally had room. He stepped off to the side, his team joining them, as RWBY walked by them. He started walking behind them, at a bit of a more leisurely pace, his team falling in behind him.

* * *

RWBY looked up at the marquee. Ruby and Yang looked eagerly between the names, Blake looking dejectedly, with Weiss trying her best to hide her confusion. Yang saw the dark blue out of the corner of her eyes and turned to Weiss, "Feeling blue, Ice Queen?"

"I... apologize..." Weiss replied, "this is just... the first time... I've been to such an establishment..."

"You've never gone to the movies before?" Yang asked.

"On the few occations we watched movies, we had them screened in the ballroom."

"That..." Yang voiced, "Actually sounds kind of awesome." and Weiss nodded.

"Why don't we see the newest Spruce Willis movie?!" Ruby asked.

"Works for me." Blake stated, when her bow twitched, and she turned to see JNPR approaching.

Weiss followed Blake's gaze. "Must you follow us?"

"If you want to know," Jaune said to her, "we're not following you."

"Then what are you doing?" Blake asked.

"Copying you." Jaune said. Weiss' face twitched and she held it in her hand.

"And... just how is that, better?" Weiss asked.

"Nora overhead you making plans to go to the movies," Jaune stated, "and it seemed like a good idea."

"Well then..." Weiss voiced.

"They can join us!" Ruby eagerly cried.

Jaune then looked at his team. "Do you guys want to see Spruce Willis?" Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora did not seem to understand the question. "You guys have never seen movies before, have you?"

Pyrrha shyly looked down.

"Our lives have been... involved..." Ren quietly said.

"Well, Spruce Willis is a good place to start." Jaune stated.

Weiss looked at Ruby eagerly wagging her tail and sighed. "Fine."

"Just remember to be quiet inside." Blake stated.

Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all nodded. Jaune looked Nora deep in her eyes.

"I'm getting giddy just thinking about it." Yang stated.

* * *

Jaund and Ruby sat together in the middle. Next to Jaune was Pyrrha and then Nora and finally Ren. On Ruby's side was Weiss, Blake, and then Yang.

* * *

Ruby reached up and grabbed Jaune's antlers as they watched the movie.

* * *

Pyrrha shifted about in her seat, crossing her legs. Jaune looked at her quizzocally out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't really turn his head, as they were against the back wall. If he didn't sit there, his antlers would block everyone's view. Jaune stood and held his hand out to her. She took it and the two shimmied out of the theatre.

* * *

Jaune leaned against the wall outside the washroom.

* * *

Pyrrha walked out of the washroom. "Thank you." she whispered.

"You're welcome." he replied, he then pointed his antlers back to the theatre.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha added.

* * *

Jaune followed by Pyrrha shimmied along the seating. Pyrrha sat down first, followed by Jaune. Ruby grabbed onto his antler as soon as he sat down.

* * *

Jaune walked out of the movie theatre, Ruby and Weiss trying to hide in his shadow. Ren simply closed his eyes and breathed in and out before opening them again. Nora and Yang held their hands up to block the light.

"How was it?" Jaune asked.

"Crass and fascile." Weiss stated.

"Then why are you smiling?" Yang asked her, and Weiss looked down.

"I will admit," Weiss replied, "it was quite entertaining... My father would simply dread this."

"He's a dick." Yang stated, "Doesn't it feel good to stick it to him?"

Weiss flushed light and dark blues.

"There's a wide world for us away from our fathers." Yang added.

"We are copying dad you know." Ruby said to her.

"Yeah, but he ended up in Patch." Yang replied, "I don't know where I want to end up, but it's not Patch."

"Your parents were team members, were they not?" Weiss asked.

"Team STRQ." Yang stated, and pulled out an old photo to show her.

"Then..." Blake languidly voiced, "maybe it's not a where..."

Yang's brown scales flushed moderately orange and looked away, putting away her photo.

"So, what do we do, now?" Nora asked.

Ruby jumped up and grabbed Jaune's antlers. She tried to look over his head before being blinded by the light. "Gack!" she exclaimed, and blinked a few times.

Weiss briefly peeked around Jaune's shoulder before thinking better of it. "I will remind everyone that we are students." With this, Yang sighed and visibly drooped.

"She does... have a point..." Jaune voiced. "You okay up there, Ruby?"

"It's just a little bright when you come out of the theatre..." Ruby replied. "This was a great preview of the day I have planned!"

Weiss was extremely startled. "Preview?.." Blake asked.

"What about us?" Nora asked.

"Plan?.." Jaune replied.

"It's simply wonderful to spend time together." Pyrrha exclaimed.

"Well, yeah." Yang replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on my [RWBY Dialogues](https://rwbyvein.tumblr.com/post/624344285571121152/firen-lhain-chapter-012-together) tumblog.


End file.
